Rents remain stable in Heather Drive

A landlord I know has owned a few properties on Heather Drive for the last five years. She came in to our office to discuss the rise and fall of property prices on the street and how this has affected her yield over the years.

In 2010, when she purchased her first property on Heather Drive, the average value of a flat on the street was £114,000 which had a sharp fall to £106,000 by 2011. The prices stabilised in value during 2012, with average values being £111,300 in 2013 and an impressive rise to £122,000 in 2014.

When she told me of the rents she had achieved on the street, they seem fairly stable over the five years. In 2010-2011 the average rent was £625 per month and is now averaging £645 per month. Therefore, a landlord could expect a respectable annual yield of around 6.3% on Heather Drive at the moment.

In our experience the flats in Woodpeckers fetch slightly more in rent than Bishops Court but both are equally popular with tenants due to their close proximity to both the train station and town centre and always rent well.

Comment below if you have any further questions about potential investments of any other property questions. 

Town house or traditional. Which makes the best investment?

A landlord came to our office for advice, just after Christmas, asking whether he should buy a three bedroom semi-detached house in the Augusta Park development.

We did some research and found a nice three bedroom semi-detached house on Barley Road for £225,000. We worked out the possible rent for this as £925 per month, which could achieve an annual yield of 4.9%. The properties in this area are quite popular with families and tend to have a great demand with investors and tenants alike, making it a relatively good investment.

A three bedroomed semi-detached town house on Herdwick Road, has a value of £240,000. The possible rent for this property is slightly higher, at £1000 per month, as it is slightly larger than the one on Barley Road. We found that although the rent can be higher, the annual yield was similar at 5%.

This shows that while a property can achieve a higher rents, it does not necessarily mean higher returns.

If you would like anymore advice on buying a rental property comment below or take a look at the rest of this blog.

Which semi detached house should I buy in Andover?

A potential investor asked if they should buy a 3 or 2 bed semi detached property to rent out to tenants. The first question I asked them was what was are they looking for from the investment - capital growth in the property or a great yield?

Answering this question will help you figure out which properties you should buy...The average asking price of a 3 bed semi in Andover is £234,920 today compared to £202,535 for a 2 bed semi. The 3 bed semi achieves an average rental price of £940 per month compared to £780 per month for a two bed semi.

That’s a yield of 4.6% for the 2 bed against 4.8% for the 3 bed. So surely, the 3 bed semi is the better bet? Well it does offer a better rate of return, but a 2 bed semi is slightly easier to rent out (less void periods) and will be easier to sell in the future.  The main thing to remember if going for the 3 bed is always make sure that the third bedroom is of a reasonable size rather than just a box room as this can make it difficult to left. 

Pop into our office, call or comment below if you have any questions.